Air traffic controllers responsible for guiding planes into Newark Liberty International Airport experienced a communications outage again early Friday morning.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the radar system at a key facility in Philadelphia — which manages air traffic in and out of Newark — went dark at 3:55 a.m. for approximately 90 seconds.
The incident mirrors a similar radar outage that occurred on April 28 and has since led to significant disruptions at the busy New Jersey airport.
Following the initial outage, the FAA was forced to slow down air traffic at Newark to ensure flight safety. That decision triggered widespread delays and cancellations, compounded by several air traffic controllers taking trauma leave in the aftermath. As of Friday morning, it’s unclear whether this second outage will prompt additional staff absences.
Flight delays and cancellations surged again following the latest radar loss. According to data from FlightAware, 57 departing flights out of Newark were canceled by mid-morning, up from 40 earlier in the day, making it the highest number of cancellations at any U.S. airport.
Additionally, 60 incoming flights were canceled, and nearly 300 delays were reported, creating ripple effects across the national air traffic system.
In response to the recent failures, the FAA said earlier this week that it is in the process of upgrading the data infrastructure linking Philadelphia and New York air traffic facilities.
Officials disclosed that the radar signal between these two key sites is still carried over outdated copper wiring in some areas, and that the agency is now installing modern fiber optic lines to improve reliability and reduce the risk of future outages.
The radar failures come at a time when the U.S. air traffic control system is under increasing scrutiny. On Thursday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a sweeping, multi-billion-dollar initiative to overhaul the nation’s aging aviation infrastructure.
The plan includes modernizing outdated radar systems, improving communication networks, and ensuring that air traffic controllers have access to cutting-edge technology.
That announcement followed a series of aviation incidents this year, including a fatal midair collision in January involving a commercial airliner and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., which killed 67 people.
Although the National Transportation Safety Board has not yet determined that air traffic control failures directly caused that crash, it intensified calls for systemic upgrades. Several other close calls and crashes in recent months have added further pressure on federal authorities to take swift action.
While the FAA has long been aware of deficiencies in the air traffic control network, efforts to modernize have often been delayed or underfunded. The recent radar failures and their fallout have reignited debate over the urgency of infrastructure upgrades and the need for adequate staffing in critical facilities.
